Matthew 28:7a: And go quickly
and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead,
There it is. That is our
message. How simple and yet how profound. How unbelievable and
yet how necessary because of the human condition.
Singer Michael Jackson confessed an
absolute fear of aging and death. Jackson's Neverland was filled with
images of Peter Pan--Jackson believed he truly was that one who would never
grow old. Those videos of the rehearsals the day he died seem to prove
that at 50 he was still a youth.
But he died that night in the quest
for what most of us take for granted--sleep. Now his remains are 2 miles
from where I am writing this in Forest lawn where I have officiated
at probably more than 100 funerals over the past 35 years. None of those
people buried from Iliana Bautista, who died before she was born, to Cathryn
Strand, who lived in 100 different years, have ever been resurrected. It
is a human condition that strikes fear in the hearts of many. Woodie
Allen said he did not fear death, he just did not want to be there when it
happened. Perhaps that is how some handle it.
Jesus faced Satan and death squarely
in the face and conquered both by dying and rising again. He did it
because of our human condition--without Christ's death and resurrection we
would still be in our sins, and still be without hope of escaping spiritual
death.
The sting of death is sin, and
Christ has defeated that sting. Character actor Art Carney at 85 was so
weak that his wife had to place him in a rest home. On one visit, he
looked up at her and said: "When's Jesus coming for me? I'm ready."
That is the Christian reaction to death thanks to
Jesus' resurrection. Physical death for the believer is just the
temporary transport into the presence of the Savior. Getting ready for
Easter?
No comments:
Post a Comment